Steam Shmup Fest is Absurd! 30 Deep Cut Recommendations From Hardcore Fans

Steam Shmup Fest is Absurd! 30 Deep Cut Recommendations. Steam is running this big event for my favorite genre, shmups (shoot em' ups)... but there is one little problem, most of the games featured and promoted are NOT SHMUPS LOL. This is a perfect example of what I talked about in my shmup definition video, where genre definitions don't matter... until they do.
And so, to try to offer some guidance and also actually give some spotlight to some fantastic steam shmups that don't get much attention, I have created this list (with the help of Boghog and M.Knight) of 30 deep cut shmup recommendations. And what I mean by "deep cut" are shmups that I don't talk about as much on the channel and shmups that are really good (quality is required to be on the list), but are not the common names everyone sees like Ikaruga, Treasure, CAVE, RAIZING, Psikyo, ect. Even though I love those shmups as well. So basically if you are wondering hey why isn't Crimzon Clover or ZeroRanger on this list, it's not because I don't recommend them (of course I do), but rather because I have recommended them many many times before ha. Same with CAVE. Also I am AWARE that not all the games listed are actually on sale right now, but just wishlist them because I also want this video to be relevant in the future ha, so I included choices that are not on sale just for this Shmup Fest event.
Here is the link to my genre definition video: • What is a Shoot Em' Up...
Amazing thumbnail created by the master, @boghogstg
Gunvein store.steampowered.com/app/20...
Castle of Shikigami 2 store.steampowered.com/app/15...
Psyvariar Delta store.steampowered.com/app/99...
COTTOn Rock'n'Roll store.steampowered.com/app/13...
Hellsinker. store.steampowered.com/app/10...
Sophstar store.steampowered.com/app/14...
Sora store.steampowered.com/app/39...
ALLTYNEX Trilogy store.steampowered.com/app/28...
Universe www.esc-j.net/stg/stgdu/upload...
RefRain - prism memories - store.steampowered.com/app/43...
ASSAULT SHELL store.steampowered.com/app/14...
Demonizer store.steampowered.com/app/10...
∀kashicverse Malicious Wake store.steampowered.com/app/12...
Andro Dunos II store.steampowered.com/app/18...
东方栖霞园 ~ Blue devil in the Belvedere store.steampowered.com/app/13...
JUDGEMENT SILVERSWORD - Resurrection - store.steampowered.com/app/27...
SATAZIUS store.steampowered.com/app/20...
GRAND CROSS: ReNOVATION store.steampowered.com/app/18...
Neko Navy store.steampowered.com/app/59...
Hazelnut Hex chunderfins.itch.io/hazelnut-hex
BLUE WISH DESIRE store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Deztopia store.steampowered.com/app/11...
REVOLVER360 RE:ACTOR store.steampowered.com/app/31...
Like Dreamer store.steampowered.com/app/18...
Super XYX store.steampowered.com/app/65...
Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire store.steampowered.com/app/11...
Dead End City store.steampowered.com/app/18...
Strania - The Stella Machina - store.steampowered.com/app/40...
The Adventures of Ten and Till store.steampowered.com/app/12...
Schildmaid MX store.steampowered.com/app/21...
Trouble Witches Origin store.steampowered.com/app/46...
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#shmup, #steam, #bullethell

[@Yatsuzume]

steam sale truly is the embodiment of: > looking for a new game > ask receptionist if their game is shoot em up or vampire survivors > she doesn't understand |pull out illustrated diagram explaining what is shoot em up and what is vampire survivors > she laughs and says "its a good game sir" > buy a game > its vampire survivors

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah that damn game lol, it's the new enter the gungeon

[@hahasamian8010]

You don't need to buy things, there are videos and screenshots on the store page, and even more of those alongside actual livestreams in the community tab

[@mkjazz3418]

Steam has the worst tags thank u for this 🙏

[@TheElectricUnderground]

no kidding ha, somehow fps and all kinds of crazy stuff are in the sale

[@scottbaylo]

Steam has the worst everything! I really shouldn’t have even started up, because this will lead to a long rant that is essentially never ending! The main problem is where do you even start with complaints? -their nonexistent security? -their non existent customer service? -the fact that not only do they have no quality control in place, but they’ve gone and delisted decent looking games, while sub-Atari quality games remain (even when the developer has 15 other carbon copies sitting right next to each other) -maybe how even though the “more like this” section (sitting at the bottom on every games page) was never perfect, it was functional enough, and did what it claimed… now it doesn’t show “more like anything”!!! And instead shows the same handful of popular games that everyone already knows about. -then of course there are all the good developers who had to abandon their games because they’ve been buried under all the garbage games that end up for sale around 0.38¢ within a month, or the games that are equally as garbage, but the devs are complete lunatics charging $30-$40 as if we can’t tell from the trailer that there’s a lack of decent gameplay, graphics, or animation (well it must be pretty good, because it’s priced at $40!!!) Unfortunately I love indie games, and for some crazy reason that I’ll never understand, a lot of devs will only release their games on steam! Which is the same as saying “here’s the exclusive rights to my game for no good reason” then steam just throws it in the pile, collects 30% on every sale but doesn’t give them anything for that 30%! Every single game should get a set amount of time on the front page, along with specific pages made for each genre so it’s easier to find what you like, and it will fix some of the clutter. I know they’ll never do it, the store is run by complete boobs! They’re more worried about giving the store a facelift, than to fix any of the major issues with their crappy search engine, the controller layout configuration that is such a great, useful tool (and something gamers have wanted forever) but like everything else on steam, the asinine names they give to each feature just leave you scratching your head, wondering what it does, or if you already know, that probably means it was awesome at one point, but doesn’t work anymore, and will never be fixed! …SEE?! I told you I shouldn’t get started.😬

[@scottbaylo]

@@diydylana3151 game jolt is actually really good too, but you'll never find anything they have through Google unless you type the name of the game you're looking for plus gamejolt... tons of great 2D games and demos

[@scottbaylo]

@@diydylana3151 You know how people will have a “love/hate” relationship with some people? Well that’s what I have with steam, except it’s more of a “hate/hate” type of thing. Of course it doesn’t help that my account got hacked, wallet drained, and a bunch of stuff stolen from that sticker, and avatar bullshit section. And they won’t reimburse my wallet, or the stuff stolen, even though I had 2 step verification, and I literally caught the thieves as they were doing it, there was nothing I could do except spam the “help” section with emails until it finally set off red flags on their end …which should’ve happened immediately anyway because I’ve never done anything with that avatar crap, so the second they posted a sale of somewhere around $200 of that stuff, and was bought within seconds (from whoever the accomplice was). So I’m on a mission to talk shit about them until my dying breath! The only thing they’ve ever done right, was adding custom control options (but even that’s all fucked up, and of course they don’t fix anything, so people in the community do). Eventually I’m going to have to make a KZbin channel devoted to my hatred of them, and a video about this major screw up, but I’m lazy, so don’t expect it anytime soon. Oh yeah, my steam user name has been changed to now reflect my thoughts about the situation (unfortunately I can’t advertise because I don’t wanna take any unnecessary risks of getting hacked again)

[@karaokehammick5215]

Roguelike suffers the same destruction in meaning as Shmup has. Roguelike used to mean a game similar to the game "Rogue" or "Nethack". Now it means anything with permadeath.

[@nemoguy]

I really wish the roguelite term catch on so it can be properly seperated

[@MimosaSTG]

THANK YOU for cleaning this up! I went onto their sales page and just walked out immediately because of how buried actual shmups were.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It's insanity ha. I'm annoyed, but I'm not surprised. That's why I actually made the shmup definition video a while back, for situations like this where we as shmup fans need to prove what is and is not a shmup ha.

[@hooksnfangs6006]

Bruh the majority of games on the Steam SHMUP Fest are games that my non-shmup playing friends think I play. Now I gotta update my wishlist

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh I know, if I hear one more causal guy telling me about how enter the gungeon is a bullet hell lol... I will crush a bag of chips

[@Regdren]

Hi! I've got some decent leaderboard placement on Akashicverse Malicious Wake (Another mode) so I hope I'm qualified to give a quick explanation. This game is all about meter management and using the right special moves to ignore whatever the enemy is doing. The game expects this. It will throw bonkers bullet patterns at you pretty frequently and you're not supposed to even try to dodge it all. Rather, you need to find places where you can "safely" graze for energy to power your moves, risking instant game over when doing so. Also, you need to plan ahead a little bit to incorporate special move inputs into your your movement. There are a couple of different control schemes, one that gives you more space to execute things and one that lets you do consecutive moves faster. Playing for score means using more energy for expensive finishing moves with higher point multipliers. You also risk instant game over more often both for energy and because killing enemies with your shields up severely nerfs your score in the long run. (....you can cheese a lot of the main game with repeated Danger Prognosis but don't tell anyone I said that. Also it was nerfed in the DLC level so don't try it there.) Let me know if you have any questions!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

fantastic comment my dude! I get some big hellsinker vibes from the game, but I don't know enough about it to confidently make that comparison ha.

[@JaimersSTG]

The biggest Deep Cut of the Steam Shmup Fest: shmups.

[@UnicyclesGameRoom]

Refrain is SUCH a hidden gem. It was one of my first serious shmups I played after being introduced to the genre with Crimzon Clover. The bullet patterns are AMAZING and I love how varied the player ships are.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes Refrain needs it's day in the sun, especially because I feel like there is a fleet of treasure fans that will love it.

[@Retrograde77]

yeah this game needs more love, one of the first shumps I got after mushi and danmaku Unlimited 2

[@dukeofhmph6348]

Aww, Reflex is my favourite of the three. That reflection sound effect is just the greatest thing ever, so indescribably satisfying to hear...

[@TheElectricUnderground]

They are all good, so saying Reflex is the weakest isn't too much of a diss right, I still think it's a great shmup and it is on the list :-)

[@dukeofhmph6348]

Haha, I'm just teasing a little, I know you weren't suggesting it was bad or anything. And on the topic of obscure and hilarious Japanese-to-English localisations, you really, REALLY need to check out the PAL version of OverBlood 2. I know it's not your kind of game, but it really is worth taking a look at. It's one of those cases where the game was translated by an Italian team who didn't speak English, so it's rife with errors. It's most infamous for mistranslating 'warehouse key' as 'whorehouse key', in addition to a PAL-exclusive technical error where it has an unavoidable crash, making it impossible to clear.

[@minimalmaster8489]

It's a good thing you made a recommendation list, I know most of the ones on it, but not all. This allows you to discover little-known gems. On the other hand, the Steam list leaves more than to be desired, a good number of games do not really belong to the shmup genre (action, run'n gun, BTU where there are some phases of shooting and avoidance bullets, etc.). In short, many titles have nothing to do in this list which puts everyone in the same basket.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

oh man there are so many crazy choices in the steam list ... also the invasion of the twin stick shooters annoys me a bit ha

[@delsarcade]

Ha ha, I agree about the Steam SHMUPS Sale title, and they didn't have true SHMUPS. It confused me too!

[@boghogSTG]

Here's a link to UNIVERSE since Mark's taking his time to update the description : www.esc-j.net/stg/stgdu/upload.php

[@dariosusu1529]

so where is the download link ? i only see lots of asian font

[@boghogSTG]

​@@dariosusu1529Thats the link, just scroll down and get stgdu0000588.zip

[@bananabytes9670]

Damn. That link brought me back memories from very early 2000s, downloading random WIN98 Doujin shmups (Do we even use this term today?) on japanese sites and finding out some great games.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

You bastard.

[@boghogSTG]

@@TheElectricUnderground LOL oh shit shoulda deleted this

[@kaishmuper]

"Steam roguelike fest 2023" Great recs mark.

[@tehteh9893]

@kaishmuper, to me, those Vampire-likes don't even qualify as roguelikes, not even in the way EtG and Isaac do. What do they even generate? Same rectangle arenas? Randomized shop offers?

[@cptwigglefuffle]

I wa freaking out when Refrain got mentioned! My absolute favorite PC shmup along with Crimzon Clover I still can't believe you mentioned it! And yes I didn watch your old review of it, to me it's like a masterpiece lol

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yep poor refrain has been ignored long enough ha :-)

[@bananabytes9670]

We will have to create another term for shmup or something, all of this is insanity. Terarin just tweeted how he had to ARGUE WITH STEAM to include Terra Flame on the shmupfest because at first they refused it for *not being a shmup* what the hell. - And as usual, thank you a lot for the kind words about Sophstar :)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I've said it once and I will say it again ha, genre definitions don't matter ... until they do lol. The fact that steam is letting in FPS and twins sticks and not allowing Terra Flame is MADNESS lol. Honestly Metal Slug is closer to a shmup than Enter the Gungeon, and yet it's on the front page (WTF). Sophstar should be on the front page :-) I'm not sure if you are working on a new game right now or not, but i'm excited for a follow for sure!

[@bananabytes9670]

@@TheElectricUnderground Yep, we are working on a new game, it's not Sophstar 2, but its something Sophstar :) We have showed little bits of it on Twitter, heh :D When we have something more concrete to show, be sure we will be sending you something :D

[@scottmichaelhedge5055]

Just wanted to say I really like Sophstar, thanks for making it!

[@todesziege]

Unfortunately the same thing will happen to any new label as soon as it gains traction.

[@Smougda]

The japanese use danmaku

[@GreenTygur]

Nice to see Satazius. Astro Port shmups need some more love. Wolf Flame is my favorite shmup from them and highly recommended. They also make other arcade style genres of game that are really fun. The menus and overall presentation of their games do need more polish, though. If this dev just had even a little bit more funding for their projects they could really be some wonderful, polished, more appealing games for a bigger audience.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yes it seems like a step up from super hydorah, so hopefully it gets more attention for that style of shmup fan :-)

[@DRI374]

Thanks for this. I was like WTF when I saw the "SHMUPFEST" 😅 A few in the cuts I didn't know of that I'm gonna get for sure. Keep up the good work!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah no kidding, imagine me sitting here and recommending a bunch of rogue-likes and twin sticks and saying they're shmups ... Blasphemy ha.

[@GurdevSeepersaud]

This is such a chill, fun video. You seem like you're in your element and just super passionate when you talk about shmups. The enthusiasm is infectious haha

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha thank you my dude!! Yes finally a chance to talk about these games that are slept on so much, I do love the genre

[@Tuwiuu]

Kaikan got a Steam release this month and the scoring system is crack. Just giving a heads up for anyone reading through the comments somehow looking for even more shmups!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes that was a contender for the list! I think we didn't include it as it does have a legacy, but absolutely worthy of including.

[@blarghblargh]

thanks for covering this specifically. was waiting for one of yall to cover this, because I'm only a oldschool compile fan and a genre dabbler.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I felt inspired to do so after seeing that front page and my nemesis enter the gungeon is taking up the prime slot. Enough with the twin stick shooters and dungeon crawlers trying to eat into the shmup brand.

[@Cybershroom]

As an aspiring SHMUP dev, I alongside several others in our Discord community had our heads rolling when Steam showcased this list. There is a clearly a disconnect when asked about the genre, But as far as the list goes, lot's of good titles were thrown in there.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

it's some watch mojo level list making at this point ha

[@RagnarokAdvent]

Hell yes, I'm always looking for more shmups to add to my steam library! Thanks for this list! Really appreciate the love for Hellsinker and the Alltynex Trilogy. A lot of these were on my wishlist but haven't pulled the trigger yet, glad to hear your thoughts on these.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes the trilogy is really really underrated, I m glad to help spread the word :-)

[@JohnDavis-vt4ou]

Another great video from EE! I was surprised at how many of these games were new to me - lots of cool stuff to add to my wishlist. Steam's grasp of game genres continues to be a source of hilarity. Someone on the Discord pointed out that the Castle of Shikigami games weren't even on sale this time, lol. (Not a deep cut, but my recs for this sale are Touhou Danmaku Festival I and II - the first game has balance issues, but the presentation is fantastic and they're dirt cheap; more than worth the cost for an afternoon's entertainment.)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm glad you found some new games with the list! I also really enjoyed the touhou FDF games, we considered them for the list, but I think they were just a tad too popular to include ha. I'm pretty sure they are more popular than shiki lol.

[@BknMoonStudios]

Great video with some truly underrated gems! 😎👍 The _Grand Cross: Renovation_ segment, as well as your videos on _Mars Matrix_ and _Jamestown+_ had me wondering something: *Will you ever make a video dedicated to vertizontal SHMUPs, what works and doesn't in their design, and how to make them properly?* I'd love your hear in-depth opinion about the topic. Could make for a fascinating video. 😉

[@TheElectricUnderground]

You read my mind, yes my video on 16:9 virts is a long time overdue and yes I will make a topic video on the subject, absolutely

[@seanm1738]

This video is fantastic! I'm a shmup casual, but love the genre. Thanks and this would make a great, every so often, series.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my dude! I tried to select games (with the counsel) that don't normally get notice by mainstream sources

[@fallenose683]

Fantastic video! Lots of great looking games that i never heard. One game i think is also worth mentioning is "Graze Counter".

[@drughitosantori3850]

Ohh my...i was hoping for this video!! Spent all day trying to decide what to purchase of games i did not know too much. Thanks Mark!! Cheers from Rome!!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Rome! What a beautiful city! Yes, I felt like this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about some of these deep cuts that I think are generally looked over, even among shmup fans.

[@drughitosantori3850]

Rome loves shmups! Actually i thought to title a song The Electric U. Last year but since there was already an album titled that i changed the name in The Electric Resolution..but i was very sad to have to change it!!! Cheers!!

[@vidyergaemenjoyer447]

Cotton RnR is one of the most fun shmups I've played, and probably my favorite shmup released since Crimzon Clover, despite having some stiff competition from Rolling Gunner, Natsuki Chronicles, Gunvein, etc. Huge amounts of content since many of the characters play so radically different from each other that it's essentially like playing an entirely different shmup altogether.

[@nicholasroberson8350]

FINALLY I'm seeing some praise for this game! I thought I was taking crazy pills for a while because every other time I've seen it mentioned, it was about how it "looked bad" (which I strongly disagree, I think it has a fun and poppy style that's pleasing to look at) and "should've been cheaper" and how it wasn't as good as Reboot and I'm just sat here wondering what they were on because it's one of the absolute best shmups I played in 2022 along with Gunvein. Cotton Fantasy (Rock & Roll?) absolutely slaps!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I ve heard a ton of love for it, I need to try it soon

[@vidyergaemenjoyer447]

@@TheElectricUnderground You won't regret it! Ria has Psyvariar grazing/leveling and Appli has Cotton 2 grabbing/juggling and magic. The other characters play very uniquely as well, but those two are my favorite. If you play as Ria, play on the hardest difficulty because it actually makes it a lot more fun since suicide bullets = more bullets to graze/level off of.

[@Sveakungen]

Love it too! It´s my "feel good" Shmup, due to colorful visuals and the sweet/funny story. Looks amazing on my Switch Oled

[@TheFrenchy82]

Thanks to both of you for the recommendation list ! 🙂

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It was actually a three man effort! Boghog, M.Knight, and myself!

[@TheFrenchy82]

@@TheElectricUnderground sorry .. A big thanks to the trio !

[@MrSquishyMelon]

I saw the sale and was hoping you'd make a video about it haha. Thanks Mark!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, I was excited to finally have a relevant shmup topic to talk about lol. This year has been pretty quiet for the genre.

[@thekorben]

This Shmup Fest is weird. I was never that much into the genre but when it started I was immediately interested since I recently bought Gradius V on a friend's recommendation and loved it. So I was looking forward to seeing which shmups were the most revered these days and how the genre evolved - naturally, I was pretty disappointed seeing all these non-shmup games on the main "Shmup Fest" store page. Still, I'm happy that this Steam event happened because I immediately looked for other places where people discuss these games nowadays to actually find out what might be cool to look into. As a result, I've also been binging your videos over the last few days and they were a big help! Thank you! I've been buying some of the "usually suspects" (ZeroRanger, Crimzon Clover WeX, Jamestown+, Ikaruga ...) and I'm amazed how great and different all these games are! And I'm still not done yet so thanks a lot for this video as well. It contains a lot of amazing-looking games that haven't popped up in my "research" over the last few days . 👍

[@SaturmornCarvilli]

What annoys me is when I actually find a shmup I didn't know was on Steam, it labels them as. "Something I haven't played before". Steam, I have over 100 shmups in library. It's something I've played before... a lot. As for the your list (Sorry about the length, lots of games and opinions): Andros Dunos II, Blue Wish Desire, Gunvein and Sophstar are incredible, They are in my top 20 of all-time favorites shmups. Castle of Shikigami, I like the 2nd one far more, but I don't really like either enough to not credit feed through them Psyvariar Delta is on my wishlist, but the discount wasn't enough to make the buy cut just yet. There is a Cotton collection that has mixed reviews So, I haven't picked it up yet due to that and not being much of a fan of the original. Hellsinker is like the anti-shmup for me. I like simple shooters that don't have visuals and audio that give me a headache after a couple of minutes of play. Never heard of Sora, Malicious Wake, Like Dreamer, Straina or Trouble Witches Origin. On my wishlist now, don't know if I'll get any of the this go around. Alltynex series, I really like the 2nd one, found the 3rd one a little watered down but I've never really like Kamui. While the mechanics similar, I think Rayforce/Layer Section (which I like) is vastly different to Kamui. I'll be adding Universe. RefRain isn't too bad. I liked some things about it, and it has some neat visuals/sound. Assault Shell is less than the sum of its parts to me. It's not doing anything exactly wrong save restricting the controllers I can use to play, but it's a tad harder than I want to play what it is. I picked up Demonizer from Shmup Fest, but I haven't played it yet. Honestly, I've never given Touhou a fair shake. I have a couple free fan games in that style that I think are okay. But they don't inspire me to get an actual Touhou game. Judgement Silversword is the simple shooter experience I look for. Nothing at all complicated yet still very challenging. I found Satazius one of Astro Port's weakest STGs. The shooting portion was underwhelming and the dodging terrain overly difficult with a few beginner's traps. I think Zangeki Warp better at being basically the same thing with a warm mechanic. But pretty much any other Astro Port STG is pretty good. Grand Cross: Renovation is excellent. It takes a little time to get used to angling the beam weapon, but worth it. Revolver360 Re:actor is very good, but takes some commitment to learning the stages to make the best use of the 'rail shooter' part. I think it gets a tad easier when on the building levels, since the player can make sense of where they are oriented. I just started playing Super XYX. Amazing. So much so, I also picked up the developer's other shooters in their Zeno series, which are basic; but I still found fun. A little on the fast side, as my reflexes are what they used to be, but still fun. Dead End City is a good game that doesn't really appeal to me. I don't really like the Galaga part, fuel mechanic or the upgrade/bonus store. But that's all personal preference, it is a well crafted game. Schildmaid MX is also a well crafted shmup, but it also didn't grab me.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh I love detailed comments like this! Reading through your comment, another game that you might want to check out if you haven't is Cotton Reboot. It's a pretty nice mix of the older cotton feel but with a dash of bullet hell deathsmiles style patterns ha.

[@SaturmornCarvilli]

@@TheElectricUnderground Thanks. BYW, I had a chance to play through Universe. Hands down best Gradius experience ever. Kicked my butt practically through the whole thing, but so very, very fair and fun.

[@chillhour6155]

loving the passion in this comment, spread the word, this awesome genre deserves more love

[@trigunR]

Rolling gunner, g darius hd, darius burst cs, darius arcade collection, eschatos, ginga force, natsuki chronicles, zeroranger, all cave games, jamestown +, steel empire, rogod force alpha,pawarumi, blue revolver, danmaku unlimited 3, super hydorah, graze counter gm, infinos gaiden, gana blade...etc just to name a few more. Great video as always Mark

[@macdonaldez]

Now look, Mark: I don't have a lot of money right now, even if it's a sale. Come on, man! (Just kidding, I love your takes on the games here. I'll definitely pick up a few, and forego food for a few days.)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yeah no kidding, I burned the wallet a bit too much during the sale myself.

[@orpheusx]

Funny that the first game on your list after the finger wagging intro touts it’s roguelike mode. A term that triggers the same kind of pearl clutching for some people. Great list of games. A bunch of these really peaked my interest in the style.

[@Emuser012]

I've played a good amount of the games on this list: Shikigami 2, Sora, Alltynex Trilogy, Refrain (actually so good), Assault Shell, Judgment Silversword, Satazius, Grand Cross Renovation, Neko Navy, Super XYX, Sisters Royale(steam version runs better), Trouble Witches Origin. ALL of these games have given me a special giddy feeling and I've wrote favorable reviews for several of them in the past, so I can confirm that they are all worth it in their own special way. Nice video, really a shame that the Steam Shmup Fest is so miscategorized with a bunch of random games that aren't 100% in the same genre, so this is a really good glimpse at some options, I even snagged a few I didn't own yet ;) Going out on a bit of a branch here, but one more random deep cut I would like to mention is Vritra, it's a horizontal shmup where you control a dragon and can wield multiple different weapons and use energy to have them unleash special attacks akin to something like R-Type Leo's pod purge. Definitely one that doesn't get mentioned much but I was very surprised with it, I wanted to mention it cause it just got a big update after 5 years on steam which updated some effects to match Vritra Hexa which has remained an arcade exclusive.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, I sort of breeze over the topic at the start of the video since I decided to not rant too much this time around, but the fact that these non shmup games are crowding out legit shmups and using the genres branding is really messed up, because instead of having garbage like enter the gungeon on the frontpage, stuff like Zeroranger, Blue Revolver, Hellsinker, Gunvein, and so many others should be enjoying the spotlight.

[@rivansan]

Great video as always thanks!

[@AndyC_111]

Great video, especially as a handy resource for coming back to.

[@Crcvmbdfl]

Great video and list ❤. Wish all of this had a Switch physical release that runs great and complete on cart for preservation purposes

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I think steam should make some sort of card reader system, physical pc games need to come back.

[@nahucirujano]

15:34 LOL 20:14 nice assets, by the way.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

:-D did you see that like dreamer has a special DD collector's edition, now that's what I call marketing.

[@michaelharrington5860]

Looks like I'll be picking up RefRain, Kamui, Sophstar, Revolver360, and Strania. Thanks again for the heads up!

[@notnoaintno5134]

good vid love the shmup coverage makes me wanna play shmups more

[@ThatGamingGuyfromthe70s]

Kaikan and Ganablade are two of my favourite shooters released this year. Not many people mention them which is a shame.

[@BlackCanvasAudio]

THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO!!! I'm a mega fan of TRUE SCHMUPS!!! I have most of these games in my library but I'm looking forward to picking up Gunvein, Sora and Strania. My collection is ridiculous at this point. lol

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Happy to help!! Also glad to hear you are picking up gunvein !! It s a fantastic non-stop bullet hell. I m gonna do an expert 1cc as soon as the PS4 version comes out

[@chase36chase]

this channel is a gem

[@StarfighterJohansson]

Thank you so much for this! I thought I picked up what I wanted from the sale but inspired by this video I also got Kamui (didn't know of it), Blue Wish Desire (missed it was on sale, big fan of the previous games) and Super XYX (initially I ignored this thinking it was the PC version of Neo XYX which I already have on Dreamcast.... doh!). High five! :)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh great selections!!! Also poor kamui is one of those games that still sneaks under the radar, despite it s really high quality

[@Jbrodack]

Thank you for this. That trailer for the fest and the main page completely ignores actual shmups and most of the known games I already have.

[@wayofthekodiak3118]

Grand Cross is perfect for me. I can only manage 30 minutes to an hour for gaming so something a bit easier is right up my alley. I have a lot of these already but there are definitely some i forgot existed and new ones as well. Awesome list.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I like Grand Cross Reno a lot and I do think the default difficulty is great for new players. It's just really frustrating that once you fall in love with the game and really want to go all in, there isn't that high difficulty meat to bite into. The game is solid for sure, but I think it could be great with a strong hard mode included.

[@extremestooge]

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Universe. Gradius fans have had a very long time between games and this SHMUP was a fantastic play through. it feels like Gradius V made with Gradius 3's style art. The fact that you have access to a tail gun at any point really opens up the level design. you feel like you are being assaulted from all directions and the action is non-stop. I wish there was a way to tip the developer. After finishing it id say its in my top 3 Gradius games.

[@RewdanSprites]

I know I'm 5 months late to this video (good thing I have most of these games already) but awesome video! At least there's a couple for me to check out. Nice.

[@puluwulu3172]

Thank you for this excellent video, much appreciated. 👍

[@chasepalumbo2929]

Can’t wait until you show us how tf to play Hellsinker, the game’s aesthetic is unmatched and it looks super deep. Also, thanks for introducing me to the Blue Wish series, the games are seriously amazing and underrated, and the soundtracks are BANGIN son

[@jacket9306]

Fantastic list dude, own a few of these myself and the rest all look very cool. Been enjoying Super XYX recently too and i see a lot compare it to Toaplan games, so what are your thoughts on those? Also if you haven't played them already, i recommend Murasaki plus its sequel and NeverAwake. Btw slight correction, it's Dezatopia not Deztopia. And again thanks for the recommendations, it's really up to dedicated fans to promote the genre instead of steam tags.

[@ShinSHOGO]

14:17 Yeah, that’s something that I absolutely agree on when it comes to the “official” Touhou titles. It’s like… man. It’s 2023, ZUN should strive to actually make these games look like they’re from the current age. It’s not 2003 anymore, when it was cute and funny to see that. Another example of a fan game shmup that had much nicer visuals than the officials is Azure Reflections/Maihana Soumakyou. It’s a horizontal shmup, as opposed to Touhou’s usual vertical orientation, but it’s really nice. It’s got full voice acting, catchy music, and very good looking 3D models. As well as a neat customization aspect where attaching accessories can alter your stats in different ways.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes it's pretty frustrating at this point, especially since ZUN is so beloved and popular that he could have an army of eager artists ready to help him at probably no cost at all lol.

[@markguyton2868]

As someone who knows people in the 2hu community, they do complain about things like the bullet types and enemy designs (the fairies have been the same almost since 6), but surprisingly they like the bad art of the characters. I also do like the art in a weird way and I've never played a Touhou game. To be honest, I don't think people would believe its a main series Touhou at this point without it looking like a drunk man drew the art (No offense to ZUN, but the art can be very crusty).

[@ShunyValdez]

Good Knight is a hidden gem that deserves attention for its game design. It's basically a one button bullet hell with great music. It actually feels like a rhythm game once you get into flow.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh I remember junkie made a vid recommending it! I ll have to try it here at some point

[@thordy9526]

I was so excited for this sale, and so disappointed when I realized Steam wasn’t promoting actual shmups. Thank you for shedding some light on these!

[@EightHandedMaya]

probably 20+ games I’m interested in checking out in this video. much thanks ❤

[@TheElectricUnderground]

fantastic! Yes I tried to really get the good stuff that normally doesn't come across people's radars

[@JohnDavis-vt4ou]

@@TheElectricUnderground I think you brought this up before, but it's crazy how little marketing even big titles get on release - it's easy to miss new stuff coming out.

[@williampingry3444]

I got another one for you Kaikan keep up the good work

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yes absolutely! we debated adding that one in, but felt it has a bit of a legacy. but it was absolutely a candidate.

[@williampingry3444]

Hey Mark I no Miss of novice maniac of mushihimesama pretty cool right just practicing for the original maniac

[@TorgoHiggins]

Hell yeah, Satazius. Love Astro Port. One of the first games I got when I first started re-dipping my toes into the genre a decade ago.

[@darkridearts]

Gabe, repent of your sins!! Satazius kicked my butt. I really love Sophstar and Andro Dunos II. I’ll have to check out the rest of the ones I’ve missed on here.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Gabe better write me and the rest of the shmup playing world a letter of apology, that also includes some gift cards ha.

[@RuV9999]

what i love about Alltynex 2nd is the scoring is fun. you build up the combo multiplier with lock on laser and then the sword and laser beam will multiply the scoring based on the combo multiplier we stock. scoring wise it feels like playing Blue Revolver but with sword. RefleX tho i love the music and presentation. but the gameplay scoring is kinda hard to me. you build up the combo multiplier with reflected projectile and then within time limit each score we get will multiplier depends on the combo multiplier.(CMIIW)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I need to play it more, I love sword mechanics when they are done well 🗡️

[@MasterDecoy1W]

I had this exact conversation about the genre blurring with my sister. It's pathetic how words are ceasing to mean anything.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yes it truly is, and if you try to make them have meaning people think you are a raging lunatic or even worse ... A GATEKEEPER!!!!!!!!

[@MasterDecoy1W]

@@TheElectricUnderground It's made worse by the fact that there's plenty of other perfectly valid terms to describe these games. Twin-stick shooters, VS clones*, Roguelite Shooters, Sidescrolling Shooters (or Platformers with shooting mechanics), I think they even slipped in an RPG and Metroidvania that happened to have bullet patterns. *I maintain that "clone" is perfectly valid nomenclature until a better one comes along. That's why League of Legends remains a DOTA clone to this day, because "MOBA" is about the shittiest attempt at genre classification I've ever seen.

[@lunaria_stg]

@@MasterDecoy1W Ok, but the metroidvania you're probably referring to (Rabi-Ribi) is actually really solid. Unlike a lot of the "bullet hell" games out there, it actually incorporates a lot of shmup design. Despite obviously being not a shmup, it's way more shmup by design than the majority of games in the sale. Also, I think it's only included because it has the "bullet hell" tag. It doesn't have the "shoot 'em up" tag, so you can't exactly accuse it of misusing the genre label.

[@MasterDecoy1W]

@@lunaria_stg I wasn't really making a judgment on the quality of games (I really enjoy Twinstick Shooters and Vampire Survivors), just the complete lack of meaningful classification. Perhaps if Rabi Ribi was in a minority, I wouldn't mind it finagling it's way into the category. But when most things prominently displayed on the front page barely qualify as SHMUPs, there needs to be a merciless crackdown.

[@lunaria_stg]

@@MasterDecoy1W Oh no, I certainly agree with you. That's why I even said that Rabi-Ribi isn't a shmup, and I definitely think it shouldn't be included in the sale. I'm just saying you shouldn't sleep on it just because it looks like a metroidvania with bullet hell slapped on it, because it truly undersells how good its design is. As for the poor categorisation, I'm disappointed (but not surprised) by Valve for it too. If not for the wishlist section, there wouldn't have been a single shmup on the front page of the sale. Either Valve should have been more dilligent in curating the games for this sale, or they should've just rebranded it as a Shooter Fest to better represent all the games that were dragged into this mess.

[@drlight6677]

Super Hydorah is the best Gradius game out there not named Gradius (or Lifeforce or Salamander). The lack of love Super Hydorah receives is criminal.

[@InitialDL84]

Yeah I agree, some of the games that are considered shumps on Steam aren't nowhere near 'shumpage' levels. Appreciate this list btw, some games I already have but added the others to my wishlist! I've got too many damn gamesas it is, but with this sale I might cop a few more.

[@austincrist7581]

Great list! Definitely making a note about these. Unfortunately the festival probably wouldn't exist AT ALL if it was for true shmups, they just don't fit the "random-powers open survival craft builder RPG" vibe of things that sell well on Steam. If the majority refuses to respect the term shmup, it seems there's only one real option: Create a hyper specific term (Like First-Person Shooter for "Doom Clones") that excludes everything EXCEPT what we know as shmups. Any ideas?

[@TheElectricUnderground]

sadly i think the only way forward is for the fanbase of the genre to be insistent on the design elements that qualify as a shmup, otherwise other genres are going to basically take over the term for marketing purposes (as so often happens)

[@tehteh9893]

In Russia and CIS countries people just call them "scroll-shooters"; by people I mean more casual audience and general retrogamers, shmup players and some of general retrogamers do use the term "shmup".

[@reikooters]

Nice list. Had many of these, but there are a few that I didn't know of and might pick up. Sadly there were 5 on the list I noticed are not actually on sale right now, including the Cotton and Touhou game that looked fun to try. I had Sister's Royale on PS4 and really enjoyed it since I felt it was easy to get into even though the "story" is silly, didn't realise it was on Steam and the deluxe version is 65% off, I'll probably pick up the steam version. But yeah, as you mentioned at the beginning, I looked at the sale and it was shit like enter the gungeon and such on the first page and I just didn't bother digging further, so thanks for the video!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm glad the video helped you discover some new games :-) That steam front page for the sale is truly terrible ha

[@Ferovsky]

Nice recommendations!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

thank you!!! Yes the genre is full of really amazing overlooked games.

[@ManOnTheDune]

Huge Reflex fan thnx for mentioning the game it actually surprised me how great it is.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

The trilogy overall is slept on big time. I'm actually going to do a kamui 1cc video soon to hopefully give the game a little extra spotlight

[@ianswift3521]

23:39 strania the stella machina is so awesome. if that's the only game anyone gets, that should be it.

[@stopmotionfrance4938]

Thanks for the recommendations!

[@GeoffreySinkeler1973]

Great selection 👌. A lot of them I already have, but I take a few extra😊

[@AlbertoMonroy-lq2vw]

This is a great channel, I was wondering if you could review caravan star 2 I found it on that very hidden page.

[@callidaria8772]

Thanks for showing me Blue Wish Desire. That game is absolutely fantastic, I know what will be my grind the next few months!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It's fantastic!! There is also another game in the series called Blue Wish Resurrection :-)

[@megasoniczxx]

Steam ought to just have had this video on the front page. Blew my mind how many of those "shmups" they had on the homepage were just roguelikes, top down shooters or just a mix of the two xD

[@TheElectricUnderground]

They even have like just straight up fps and third person shooters too ha. We've blown way past edge cases ha.

[@andyauthor2007]

I want to recommend a game that (according to Mark) is not a SHMUP because it is a twin-stick shooter, called Never Awake. It's available on Steam and the Playstation Store (not sure about Xbox or Switch). It's a twin-stick shooter where you are trying to wake up a girl who is in a coma by playing through her nightmares in her troubled mind. If you want to play something that is ridiculously hard, beat this game by clearing stage 7A, go back through the level select screens and clear all the marked challenge levels, then go play stage 7B and get ready to start swearing because this is BALLS HARD! 7A isn't too bad except for the final boss, but 7B is NEXT LEVEL HARD! I consider myself to be a pretty decent SHMUP player (not great, just decent), so I didn't think I had the skills to do it, but I shocked myself when I cleared 7B of that game. You don't see a lot of coverage of that game on KZbin or anywhere else but it deserves more recommendations than it's getting. Try Never Awake, especially if you are a twin-stick shooter fan.

[@masterofdoom5000]

NeverAwake is great, so is their shmup VRITRA COMPLETE EDITION

[@BlueKaiTheEnd-]

Good stuff! More shumps to add to my wishlist. also, ProtoCorgi didnt make the list :/?

[@weakboson7813]

+1 for Demonizer. Shows what a talented dev can do when they follow through on a concept. The result is a refreshing and original game that you feel right at home playing straight away. +1 for Psyvariar. One of my favorite arcade games and one that's been historically under-appreciated. Grazes like no other!

[@DenpaCake]

Im kinda sad you didn't talk about Ten and Till. It's a fantastic game that really surprised me, the atmosphere and theme really sold it to me. The final boss is also absolutely beautiful.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yeah ten and till is pretty cool, I didn't mean to forget it ha, I must have started to get tired by the end of intial recording ha

[@getinthering7309]

congratulation on 350 coments on a shmup vidoe(i really think this is one the most forgottent category of games) do you know more shmups of the type of vasar1&2, guwange? i discovered vasar this year & was shocked to find a game that looked like guwange (old japan inspired enemies & backgrounds)

[@VitorMach]

Just heard about UNIVERSE, downloaded it, and had a blast of a time. Thanks!

[@YASKY3035]

Excellent recommendations. Thanks

[@NegativeYoutube]

Thanks for telling me what boghog thought of these games.

[@LloydDunamis]

Oh sheesh, this got recommended to me late, like a day later after the sale has ended >~< No matter. Wishlisted several of them, and downloaded/bookmarked for the others outside of Steam. Thank you!

[@MamO-eom]

Love your videos man, just got a ps5 and wanted to know if there are any shmups on the PSN store 😅

[@pacificdash]

Whoah some of those are some DEEP cuts. Thank you for helping us discover them! Never would have found Universe. Literally not in a thousand years. I heard of Blue Wish Desire before but I didn’t know it was similar to the Cave ESP games. I f’in love those, what am I waiting for??

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yeah freaking universe is like bottom of the iceburg ha, I have no idea how boghog found it lol. And yes if you are a cave fan, check out blue wish desire. What's funny is the the Blue Wish series used to be fairly popular in the west because a lot of cave games weren't ported to pc back then ha. So it was like the pc cave option before the steam cave ports.

[@ianswift3521]

the whole blue wish series is great

[@scottmichaelhedge5055]

Not sure if you've covered it already, but have you played Angel at Dusk? It's not out yet, but there's a steam demo--it looks really interesting with some bizarre visuals.

[@junpei6180]

Loved the f zero GX OST in this video

[@TheElectricUnderground]

The ost is just pure magic, sega at their best.

[@junpei6180]

@@TheElectricUnderground facts

[@michaelharrington5860]

Several games on here that I'll be picking up. Thanks!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Fantastic!!!!

[@Galaxy40k]

Would you be able to elaborate a bit more on how Ten and Till is beginner friendly? Idk why, but something about the visuals in that clip you showed really sucked me in, and ofc out of all 30 games I vibe with the ONE you don't talk about LMAO. Thing is though, despite my love of shmups, I'm still a scrub - I've made it to the final boss on Crimzon Clover Novice 1cc, but still haven't cleared it. Drainus was perfect for me though, my favorite shmup. Where does Ten and Till fall on that spectrum? What makes it beginner friendly?

[@chris1cc]

Can also vouch for SORA, though I believe the first game is far better. Very unique games, I haven't really found anything else like it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh man we were going back and forth on deciding whether to go with sora or the first game, but SORA does have a nice appealing look to it that will hopefully translate to new players also checking out the first game too.

[@TlbHibiki]

I too vouch for SORA, and also think SUGURI is a better game, SORA's best fight being a throwback to SUGURI's final boss.

[@chris1cc]

@@TheElectricUnderground Since SORA has a proper tutorial I tend to recommend it to new players too, one of SUGURI's flaws (it's rare for me to say this) is that it doesn't really teach players how to play unless they look in the manual, which most folks won't do. Overall great suggestions though.

[@BuzzaB77]

Do you have a link to a vid of not deep cuts? I've been out of the Shmup game for a while, but now I'm older and have less time I'm getting back into them, especially as I now have a steam deck hooked up to an atgames pinball for vertical play. I grew up with a Saturn so obviously it's my life mission to find a Shmup better than Radiant Silvergun haha, Cave stuff is obviously still classic, but I have discovered some great casual jaunts like Jamestown, Sine Mora and Astebreed, and I appreciate innovative mechanics like those in Velocity, Dimension Drive, and Monolith. Any more recommendations?

[@namae3]

The Tawashi is 68% off. Very well-balanced game with great level design and very replayable

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I love Tawashi, it was close to getting on the list, but I actually recommended it in my previous steam recommends list, so I gave the edge to some other games. It's great though

[@jglg7238]

All i want is Radiant Silvergun a HD port to come on steam

[@flutebasket4294]

😅 I was wondering if you were going to go off on this. I really think Steam totally ripped you off -- and the rest of ShmupTube as well

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yes vapors of anger rose off me when I saw what was on the front page of this supposed shmup fest, but rather than just ranting about it, which I was tempted to do, I decided to try to jump in and at least try to spotlight the shmups that aren't getting the attention that they should be.

[@flutebasket4294]

@@TheElectricUnderground Cool. And maybe, despite their craptitude, and only because they're massive, this Steam sale will bring attention to the much neglected Shmup genre

[@lunaria_stg]

I was so excited to see Steam having a sale for shmups... and then I saw the front page. Never mind. This is a solid list though!

[@gamecentergarou6725]

I've been quite impressed by Gunvein so far, Mark. There's just one nitpick I have: I don't see anything like a replay feature. Can you maybe crack the whip on your boi Boghog and get him to patch a replay feature in?

[@Reayashin]

shoutouts to the F-Zero AX demo music

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Great ears! Yes i love the ost so much, it just works and has this perfect vibe.

[@IoriBranford]

This will be a problem as long as the genre is called "shoot 'em up" and we don't have a 1-3-syllable equivalent of "2D auto-scrolling one-way shooter". I'd love to see someone come up with one, it would probably have to be in German or Finnish or something. I'm excited to try GanaBlade, I just got it because it looks cool and is cheap. And thanks as always for the Demonizer love 😈

[@PedroFerreira-sx2gd]

Great video with great recommendations (but dead city end blarrgghhh). i don´t know if it is just me. Where´s the link to universe please?

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you my dude! And the description should now have the link :-)

[@Deinbeck]

Yeah, I was like where are the shmups... shiki 2 was one of my few 1cc. Good newbie game?